updated 11:55 am EDT, Fri March 19, 2010

JVC Everio HM550 can see phones, GPS

JVC picked an unusual Friday timeframe to start shipping the Everio GZ-HM550BUS, its first camcorder with Bluetooth. The short-range wireless gives the 1080p60 camera unique control features. With an installed app, a smartphone can record and zoom like a remote control; it can also use A2DP headphones for wireless audio and geotag video with a Bluetooth GPS receiver.

As one of more advanced Everios, the HM550BUS gets a 10.6-megapixel, backlit CMOS sensor that provides better low light sensitivity and 9-megapixel photos. It promises a 16X "dynamic" zoom lens and 32GB of internal storage along with an SDHC card slot to add more. Software on the camera itself provides for simple tasks like time-lapse shooting as well as 15FPS burst photography and slow motion framerates as high as 600FPS.